In general, a refrigerator is an apparatus for storing food at a low temperature, in which food to be stored is frozen or refrigerated in accordance with the state of food to be stored. The chilled air supplied into the refrigerator is generated by the heat exchange of a refrigerant and is continuously supplied into the refrigerator while repeatedly performing a cycle of compression-condensation-expansion-evaporation. The supplied chilled air is uniformly spread to the inside of the refrigerator by convection so that food in the refrigerator can be stored at a desired temperature.
The refrigerator includes a compressor. The refrigerant is compressed by the compressor so that the chilled air is supplied to the inside of the refrigerator in accordance with the above-described cycle. The refrigerator rectifies and smoothes an electric power supplied from the outside and revolution per minute of the compressor is controlled in accordance with a change in load through an inverter. At this time, the refrigerator includes a unit for preventing an electric power supplied from the outside from breaking down or for preventing over current or over voltage from being generated to protect the compressor. In this case, in order to stop and then, re-operate the compressor, the compressor is to be re-operated after being stopped for a long time. When the compressor is stopped and then, immediately re-operated, the compressor can be damaged due to inrush current and the over voltage.